Find your own kindness = happiness dose. Positive psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky has shown that research subjects who perform acts of kindness (five acts on a single day each week) tend to feel happier after six weeks. An act of kindness can be as small as picking up a worm from the sidewalk after a rain and placing it gently back in the dirt. I would suggest also trying one act a day, each and every day, as did the author of 29 Gifts [Cami Walker], as she was struggling with her multiple sclerosis. Different strokes for different folks – one size does not fit all. Experiment and find the right dose and intensity of helping to make you happy.

Stephen G. Post in The Hidden Gifts of Helping